Data from: Modelling bat distributions and diversity in a mountain landscape using focal predictors in ensemble of small models

Aim: Bats are important components of mammalian biodiversity and strong
bioindicators, but their fine scale distributions often remain less known
than other taxa (e.g. plants, birds). Yet as highly mobile species with
multiple needs in the landscape, bats impose serious modelling challenges,
such as advanced use of neighbourhood analyses. The aims of this study
were to test the use of a designed sampling of bats for biodiversity and
conservation assessments, and to find appropriate modelling solutions for
providing nature practitioners with reliable potential bat distribution
maps in a mountain area of high conservation interest . Location: The
western Swiss Alps of Vaud Methods: We conducted a one-year field survey
combining passive acoustic recordings supplemented by mist net catching to
collect data on bats. These data were then used to create univariate
models with focal land use/cover variables using different focal window
sizes to detect the optimal species specific scale of influence for each
variable. The large number of selected variables was then used to create
ensembles of small models at a 100mx100m resolution, and the resulting
habitat suitability maps were transformed into species distribution maps
for practitioners. Results: We were able to collect data to model 14
different bat species representing 66% of the Swiss bat diversity,
including 4 red list species. In general, the most important variables
were Euclidean distance to road or water, temperature and slope, but there
was large variation among species both for the variable importance and the
optimal focal window size. Main Conclusion: Our study greatly increased
the knowledge of bats in this region and showed that many of the red list
species are nowadays disappearing from the intensively used lowland plains
and restricted to the remaining forests along the slopes . Additionally,
we highlighted the importance of selecting the variable scale on a species
specific basis accounting for their mobility and range sizes.